Landmark about to get demo’d – please send an email

Just got this email about the neat art deco gas station at Glendale and Rowena – it’s the last art deco station in Silver Lake and it’s scheduled for demolition. The good news is you don’t have to be in this district to send your objections to the demo.

Please send our pal Tom Labonge an email asking him to stop the demo – the residents have been fighting this for some time but the developers seem to know every loophole. Deadline is TOMORROW so please take a moment and do this asap.

Too lazy to write your own email? No problem – here’s text for you to copy and send to Tom LaBonge. Remeber to include your name, address, and phone in your email.

Here’s the letter I got, with the stuff to copy in it (plus a little background):
Dear Concerned Neighbors and Business Owners of Silver Lake:

As many of you know, there has been a recent application to designate the art deco, Richfield service station (located at 2800 N. Glendale Blvd, 90039) with historic monument status. Because of our appreciation and love for our neighborhood and community, we not only seek to have a historical monument recognizing our past, but also want to ensure any development is in line with what the community needs and wants.

We have been working with the CHC in hopes of recommending to the City Council that this site be given monument status. However, at this time CHC has decided against this.

We need your help in calling and/or writing to Councilmember Tom LaBonge to ask him to help us take up the case to continue to pursue and appeal the status: Councilmember La Bonge needs to present a 245 motion for the Council to resubmit the Richfield Station to the Cultural Heritage Commission. It is important that Tom not only be aware of the historic merits of the structure but also the fact that due to an unusual set of circumstances, we were not able to present our case to the Cultural Heritage Commission. We never had a fair hearing on the matter.

Please contact Councilmember LaBonge’s office as soon as you can. We have until Wednesday, September 10th to make our thoughts and opinions known to Mr. LaBonge, in order for his office to make the motion. Please include your name and address when contacting LaBonge.

A few things to mention to Councilmember LaBonge as to why this is important and that he should take up this cause:

1. Neighborhood Character: We are concerned about development of this site, how it will affect the neighbors and the businesses, and that it has integrity in the neighborhood.
2. This is not a monument to Atlantic Richfield, it’s a monument to Los Angeles’ car culture and its more stylish past. We used to have art deco gas stations on every corner, including 3 at the intersection of Riverside and Fletcher in 1937, even though we had a popular trolley line in the same neighborhood.
3. This site helps preserve the character of the community in its small scale. The art deco details are also evident in the surrounding neighborhood which grew at the same time.
4. Emphasize the fact that this part of Silver Lake is experiencing its recent Renaissance!! With all good restaurants and retail businesses Rowena and its intersection with Glendale Blvd. is becoming more and more a focal point for community life in this corner of Silver Lake.
5. Point out that with the Michelangelo Restaurant’s very good looking replacement of Flor Morena the neighborhood is looking towards no less than that across the street and to wrap around a lovely neighborly oriented area;
6. Give Tom LaBonge some credit for his record as a “preservationist” and thank him for that. Tell him – AS HIS CONSTITUENCY you expect the same for this precious corner of Silver Lake and you will greatly appreciate it!

10 Replies to “Landmark about to get demo’d – please send an email”

Looks like the letter isn’t an easy copy and paste, so here’s what I sent. Feel free to use, just add your own signature info at the bottom:

Subject: Urgent – Please stop the demo of 2800 N. Glendale Blvd!

Dear Councilmember LaBonge –

I write to you about the recent application to designate the art deco, Richfield service station (located at 2800 N. Glendale Blvd, 90039) with historic monument status. Because of our appreciation and love for our neighborhood and community, we not only seek to have a historical monument recognizing our past, but also want to ensure any development is in line with what the community needs and wants.

Please help us take up the case to continue to pursue and appeal the status: present a 245 motion for the Council to resubmit the Richfield Station to the Cultural Heritage Commission.

Yes I am copying content from a letter I received – it’s a busy day for me and I really want to be sure I get this emailed to you.

Here are the key points:

1. Neighborhood Character: We are concerned about development of this site, how it will affect the neighbors and the businesses, and that it has integrity in the neighborhood.
2. This is not a monument to Atlantic Richfield, it’s a monument to Los Angeles’ car culture and its more stylish past. We used to have art deco gas stations on every corner, including 3 at the intersection of Riverside and Fletcher in 1937, even though we had a popular trolley line in the same neighborhood.
3. This site helps preserve the character of the community in its small scale. The art deco details are also evident in the surrounding neighborhood which grew at the same time.
4. I want to emphasize the fact that this part of Silver Lake is experiencing its recent Renaissance!! With all good restaurants and retail businesses Rowena and its intersection with Glendale Blvd. is becoming more and more a focal point for community life in this corner of Silver Lake.
5. With the Michelangelo Restaurant’s very good looking replacement of Flor Morena the neighborhood is looking towards no less than that across the street and to wrap around a lovely neighborly oriented area;
6. Yes, we do give you credit for your record as a “preservationist” and thank you for that. AS HIS CONSTITUENCY I expect the same for this precious corner of Silver Lake and I greatly appreciate your efforts!

Sorry for that but it covers all the ground.

Thank you for your time in reading this – I really do appreciate your efforts.

Good luck to you. In my corner of LA our Redevelopment Agency and City Clownsil got together and rezone a huge chunk of town and part of it is the only piece of original Googy (a car wash) that is slated for demo. Yup and not a damned thing we can do about it.

Don’t you love it how we destroy history, especially bits unique to LA’s history and put crappy high density housing in its place? Why can’t we keep the structure and just reinvent its use. Oh, I forgot the redevelopment agencies all jumped on the high density for maximum tax base, especially sales tax generation and lost focus on maintaining a communities integrity and how the residents want things to look.

Ok, email sent. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I’m dismayed by the lack of historic preservation in this city. Readers may also want to check out the Los Angeles Conservancy, and, especially, its Modern Committee, which, according to its brochure, “focuses on the preservation of all types of Modern architecture.” See http://www.modcom.org.